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The Role of Social Support in the Relationship Between Adolescents’ Level of Loss and Grief and Well-Being Firdevs Savi Çakar1 1 Faculty of Education, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur, Turkey Correspondence: Firdevs Savi Çakar, Faculty of Education, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Istiklal Yerleşkesi, Burdur, Turkey. E-mail: firdevssavi@hotmail.com Received: July 5, 2020 Accepted: September 7, 2020 Online Published: November 23, 2020 doi:10.5539/ies.v13n12p27 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v13n12p27 Abstract In this study, the model, developed to examine the role of social support in the relationship between adolescents’ level of loss and grief and well-being, was tested. In this study, the descriptive research method was used, and its participants consisted of 216 adolescents who were high school students, in Turkey. Scales used in this study include Personal Information Form; Grief Scale; Five-Dimensional Well-Being Scale for Adolescents (EPOCH); Social Support Assessment Scale for Children and Adolescents (CASSS and Personal Information Form). The structural equation model was used to examine the mediator role of the social support in the association between grief and well-being among adolescents. It was found the hypothesized model fit the data well, and social support fully mediated in the association between grief and well-being. The high level of social support in the loss and mourning process of adolescents makes it easier to cope with grief and positively affects their well-beings. These results are important for focusing on adolescents who experience lost and grief, providing effective mental health services and demonstrating the importance of strengthening social support systems. Future studies with longitudinal follow-ups are suggested to explore actual causal relationships. Keywords: loss, grief, well-being, social support, adolescent 1. Introduction Today, it can be said that loss experiences are high due to wars, diseases, traumatic events and deaths due to negative economic, social and political developments, especially natural disasters all over the world. While the question of how the phenomenon of loss and grief affects the lives of adolescents as a universal phenomenon is tried to be answered in terms of adolescent mental health, more focus is needed to address the issue with short-term and long-term consequences on adolescents’ development and harmony, as well as more focus is needed on the prevalence, effects and interventions of loss and mourning in adolescents. 2. Background As a transition period, puberty requires navigating many areas and adapting to the resulting developmental challenges (Balk, 1996). It is a time of transformation that includes biological, psychological and social perspective (Weisz & Hawley, 2002). The formation of a sense of identity and improving the self-form are cornerstones of spiritual development (Noppe & Noppe, 2004). Although adolescence offers adolescents a number of opportunities for growth and development (Weisz & Hawley, 2002), adolescents experience many negative life experiences and losses while trying to overcome the developmental crisis of the period, and they try to deal with the syllabus that arises after these losses (Hogan & DeSantis, 2004). Accordingly, it should be noted that adolescents are at high risk both in relation to the developmental process and in terms of developing functional disorders related to the loss and the grieving process (Weisz & Hawley, 2002). 2.1 Loss and Grief Death is a loss as the end of life and causes grief in individuals (Thompson, 2002). The loss covers many areas of life outside death. Losses in the literature include primary losses (death, divorce/separation, loss of work, moving, etc.) and the secondary loss accompanying primary losses (loss of relationships, friendship, security, identity, finance, stability, role, support system, loss of hopes, dreams and expectations, etc.). It should be noted here that secondary losses are as important as primary losses, the effects of loss are decisive, and no matter what kind, all these losses are real and bring along the grief (Humphrey, 2017). Conceptually, grief is severe and ies.ccsenet.org International Education Studies Vol. 13, No. 12; 2020 28 prolonged pain that occurs after a loss (Weiss, 2001). In the grief, the individual suffers a deep sadness or sadness, this process is the aching of the soul and the suffering of the individual’s mind (Abi-Hashem, 2017). Grief is also physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral and spiritual responses that are given against a lost in a holistic manner (Balk, 2011). The grieving process is individual; it can be experienced in different ways and times due to the dynamics of each individual’s grieving process
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